Pneumatic-tire construction



Aug. 18, 1925. 1,549,762

J. R. GAMMETER PNEUMATIC TIRE CONSTRUCTION Filed April 2. 192a In van/Z02" Jahn amma/fez."

Patented Aug. 18, 1925.

UNITED STATES I i ii 1,549,762

P TENT omce.

' Joann... Gunman, or, ARBOR, 01:10, AssmNoa TO THE AmEnicAN CHAIN cou- PANY, or nmnenron'r, OONNECTIGUT,;A coBroRA'rIoN or CONNECTICUT.

irNaima'no-rm'a coNsTnUc'rIoN.

To all whom it may coneem."

Be it known that .1, JOHN R. GAMMETER,

I a citizen of. the United States, and a resident I paratory to incorporation in the bead tire reinforcement;

of Akron, county of Summit, State of Ohio, have invented Certain new and useful Im-' provements \in PneumaticFTire Construction, of which the following is a speeifica tion.

This invention relates to the construction of pneumatic tires of that type having 'inextensible beads, known as stralght-side tires. The invention 'relates particularly to the reinforcement used in the beads. to impart strength and inextensibility thereto. The

form of reinforcement shown herein is de signed to replace the usual or well-known braided Wire tape and is en rior to that form of tape in strength an non-stretchabili'ty, as well as being cheaper and easier to manufacture. The present design of reinforcement is designed to impart great/er strength to the bead than rior forms of re,-

inforcement and to be rigid transversely of the tape so that the tape cannot be distorted by mold pressure.

These and other objects will be apparent .from the drawings and description of the improved pneumatic tire construction, it being obvious that exact adherence to details of construction" is not necessar as'modifications and variations are possi le within the scope of the invention.

i In the drawings Figure 1 is a plan view of a portion of the "Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1; w a

*ig. 3 is a side elevation of the wlre; Fig. 4 is a side View of the wire reinforcement as assembled in ring form pre- Fi 5 is :a view of the forming ring on whic the head is constructed;

' poration in the tire ;I

Fig. 6 is'a view of the beadin the process of semi-curing in preparation for its incorfiled March 30, 1923. The resent construction 1s designed to afi'or greater tensile strength than the form of wire shown in said,

application, without increasing" the difficulty of weaving the wire. p

The wire reinforcementis shown n Figs.

1,2 and .3, and comprises a double layer of longitudinal wires 1 placed one above the other as shown in Fig. 2, The outer wires' 1 may be single if desired and may be of greater tensile strength than the inner wires.

The wires are heldlin parallel position in the form of a tape by a. single crossing wire 2 woven back and forth from edge to edge of the tape and passing over and under alternate pairs of longitudinal wires. The weaving of this tape is easily accomplished by threading two longitudinal Wires through *eachheddle of an ordinary weaving machine, such as used, for example, in the weaving of ribbon or narrow stock. It will be notedthat the wires are placed in sub-. stantial contact across the width of the tape, or with what may be termed ,zero spacing and thatthereby the tape is held in more rigid relation 'thanis true of the ordinary be lighter in gage than the longitudinal wires, serves to form the longitudinal wires into'waves or undulations, so that thesurfaces of the tape are undulatory.. This gives the tape an increased gri'por holding efi'ect on the rubber or rubber composition of the bead, the rubber finding, itsway into the many interstices caused by the crossing wire and thus locking securely with the wire reinf'oreement.

In the manufacture of the tire, the wire reinforcement may or may not be insulated or coated with rubber before it iswound with the suitable number of convolutions prior to its incorporation in the bead. A wire reinforcement 5 is shown in Fig. 4 being shown as wrapped ,in three. oonvolutions, Such a reinforcement maybe mounted on a forming wheel or drum 6 and surrounded by a mass of rubber or rubber composition 7 and covered by a fabrictenvelope or cover 8. The head so built up is transferred to a mold 9 where it is given a preliminary or partial vulcanization, being then in the form shown at 10 in Fig. 7.

The bead is then ready to be incorporated in the lower edge of a tire casing 11 in which posiition the tape is parallel to the base of the By providing two or a plurality of layers of longitudinal wires in the tape as shown, an increased tensile strength is afforded with a single weaving operation. The extent of undulations in the tape is increased and the interstices for the rubber compound are greater in number than with previous constructions. While two wires onlyvin layers are shown, it is apparent that the number of wire layers may befincreasedi as desired without departing from'ithe advantages of the invention. Other changes may be made as desired within the scopeof the appended claims.

What I claim isi g 1. In a tire construction, a bead and a reinforcement located in said bead and adapted to impart inextensibility' thereto, sai reinforcement comprising a substantially flat tape including a plurality of longitudinal wires arranged across said tape in a plurality of layers and a, crossing wire passin back and forth from edge to edge of sai tape and adapted to hold the wires inthe form of a tape. 5

2. In a tire construction, a bead and a reinforcement located in said bead and adapted, to strengthen the same, said reinforcement comprising a plurality of longitudinal wires arranged across said tape in [side contact with one another and in two layers, and a crossing wire passing back and forth from edge -to edge of said tape and over and under pairs of longitudinal wires.

3. In a tire construction, a bead and a reinforcement located in said bead, said reinforcement comprising a plurality of parallel longitudinal wires in contact. across said tape'and in two layers, and a crossing wire passing back and forth from edge to edge of said tape and over and under pairs of longitudinal wires and serving to form undulations in the surfaces of the reinforcement.

'4. In a tire construction, atirebead substantially triangular in cross-section and com rising a reinforcing tape parallel to the ase of the bead and a filling of rubber composition surrounding the reinforcement and vulcanized thereto, said reinforcement comprising a plurality of layers of parallel wires, and a crossing wire woven from edge to edge thereof and serving to maintain the wires in the form of a tape, said crossing wire passing over and under pairs of longitudinal wires.

5'.- In a tire construction, a tire bead substantially triangular in cross-section and comprising a reinforcing tape parallel to the base of the bead, and a filling of rubber composition surrounding the reinforcement and vulcanized thereto, said reinforcement comprising a plurality of layers of parallel wires, and a crossing wire woven from edge to edge thereof and serving to maintain the wires in the formaof a tape, said crossin wire passing over and under pairs of longitudinal wires and forming undulatory surfaces on the wire tape thereby multiplying the interstices within the tape.

6. In a tire bead constructlon, a reinforcement comprising a plurality of parallel wires in layers to form a substantially fiat tape, single wires at the edges of the tape, and a crossing wire to hold said parallel wires in position.

' JOHN R. GAMMETER. 

